La Manche Day 5 - Ducey to Saint Malo

Last pedalling day of the trip, 50 miles from the town of duvet to the ancient walled city of Saint Malo.  We stayed outside the walls years ago and said we’d come back and this time stay inside - check!  The ferry back to the U.K. from Saint Malo is also a good one.  It’s a daytime Brittany ferry w/ a nice restaurant for a last French lunch.

The B&B in Ducey was a good one run by a dapper older Frenchman who was very chatty.  The house was one of the old stone ones, behind a wall that we’d often looked at and wondered what they were like inside.  Just as you would expect with high ceilings, a circular stair and lots of interesting rooms. 

The breakfast was amazing, one of the best, certainly on this tour, maybe ever.  Fresh soft boiled eggs from Monseiur’s chickens, fresh fruit and jams (including a rhubarb compote), baguette and croissants - delicious.  Even received croissants to go!

Packed up the rest of our things and headed out to the bike.  Cycling shoes and slippery slate don’t match and, whoop, flat on my back as we left!  Very luckily no injury to my injuries. 

We stopped at the Boulanger, got the day’s baguette and made our way back onto the route.  

Winding country roads, passing farms, dalmation cows and riding mostly along the bay of Mont St. Michel.  Caught our first glimpse within 10 miles and kept it in view for miles. 

We’ve seen Mont St. Michel in the distance several times, but this time we were so close we had to pedal across the causeway to the walls.  Surrounded by the sea at high tide, the causeway that enables access at all times.  Absolutely gorgeous up close and from a distance.

After a coffee (how do the French and Italians make such great  coffee from a machine?), we continued around the bay to the short climb to the top of the hill above St. Malo.  More field and farm country along with a bit of rain.  We sheltered from most of that under some trees.

Dropped down into St. Malo, passing plages as we got back to the coast.  Had a nice ride along the windy seafront to the walled city, staying away from a significant drop off to the beach!

Cobblestones as we entered the walls so time to get off and walk!  Hotel Nautilus was a couple blocks in and easy to find.  Attic room on the fifth floor - eek!  Elevator - whew!  Had plenty of time for a shower and a rest.

Strolled about for a bit and settled on Maison Hector for cocktails and the dinner - Plat du Mer!!!  Haven’t had one of those for at least five years!  Steve had a chicken tajine which was also very good. 

This was not Steve’s chicken, but it was big enough to be one!

Desserts were had - caramel macarons (have to learn to make those!) for me and a caramel cake w/ the most amazing whipped cream!  Worth coming back for!

La Manche Day 4 - Tessy-sur-Vire to Ducey

2425 feet today and 59 miles!  Left Tessy-sur-Vire, after a very nice breakfast and ensuring we had a baguette to go with our meat and cheese for lunch. 

Back down to the river to pick up the path and then we wiggled our way south, turning every half mile or so to get around the various farms and fields.  Still following the Voie Vert, which by this time looked like the leafy lanes of Surrey!  The majority of the route was on rail trails which are brilliant when going uphill!  Can only go as steep as a train would go, which is not that steep for a bicycle!

Stopped for coffee only once, as we only went through one town!

It’s a real treat when the profile looks like this with these massive hills…

And ends up w/ only a 1-4% climb!

We had our lunchtime picnic at the top of the first hill and our second lunch on the second descent.  Absolutely loved freewheeling for miles downhill!

The scenery was mostly French farmland and forest.  Still so quiet out there.  Felt like we were the only ones on the trail mostly.  Only when we got near a town did we see a few cyclists or walkers, and some really well-behaved dogs. 

At mile 59, we arrived in Ducey accompanied by a bit of rain.  Staying a lovely old B&B.  Found some strong beer for Steve.  

Had dinner at the Clapton Cafe and Brasserie - fois gras to start, sautéed beef for Steve and a smoked fish on sauerkraut for me.  Lots of good wine was enjoyed.  Then back for a big sleep!

Don’t get Fromage Blanc for dessert!

Le Manche Day 3 - Carentan to Tessy-sur-Vire

Up early for the typical French hotel breakfast - meat, cheese, baguette, croissant and loads of coffee!  Slightly less miles today, projected to be 42 and not very hilly at all w/ the high point at 175 feet.  We are heading to Tessy-sur-Vire, staying overnight at La Minoterie, a B&B there. 

Amazingly peaceful out here, just us and the birds

Headed out of Carentan via the marina and along the canal.  We very shortly found ourselves in the Voie Vert and that where we remained for the rest of the day!  We followed the River Vire for probably 35 miles, winding our way along the river and alongside the cliffs on either side.  Stopped in St. Lo for a picnic lunch and a coffee next to (you guessed it) the river. 

D-Day photos all along the route 

35 miles of excellent trail along the River Vire

A walking break

At. Lo for a picnic lunch

There were still lots of D-Day decorations and there seem to be ‘Liberation Day’ celebrations coming up!

We did encounter a ‘Route Barre’.  We usually ignore these signs as 9 times out of 10, we can find our way around construction and blocked routes.  But not today!  They were serious about blocking this route - fences, piles of dirt, no way of getting through - had to turn around and retrace our steps!  However, there were ‘Deviation’ signs which took us up into the hills and then returned us to the route, eventually.

The day was a good one, even with our little detour.  Got here, showers / clothes washing (can’t carry too many changes of clothing so have to wash every night).  Walked to the shop and picked up wine, Leffe and a canard starter.  It’s really hard to find a bad glass or bad bottle of wine around here.  Found one of my favourites, Aligote.  And for le dinner, we’re having dinner at the B&B prepared by our hostess, with Normandy cider and a pear tarte.

Aligote!

Fois gras seeking kitty

And Steve’s new best friend!

Not a vineyard in sight, but we passed the very well cared for orchards and not surprised that Normandy cider is such a hit!

La Manche Day 2 - Cherbourg to Carentan

 Off the ferry first thing (w/ only one cup of coffee!).  Made our way through the port and immediately found our route - thanks Komoot!  Everything was clearly sign posted and easy to find (except more coffee!).  Hit the hill out of Cherbourg at about mile 4.

On the ferry, down on the car deck

Coming into Cherbourg Harbour

We were fueled by croissants and coffee!

A car only every 15 minutes and otherwise it was just us and the countryside.  Made our way over the hills on quiet lanes, by lovely French stone houses.  At first it was so quiet, we thought there was a national holiday, but, no, it’s just quiet. And a perfect day for cycling, sunny and in the 60’s.

Followed the Voie Vert (Green Way) for somewhere between 35 to 40 miles.  A gravelled rail trail, we’ve never been on one so long.  Felt a little like being back on LEJOG.  Steve’s comments, ‘Best route ever!’ and ‘These tracks are in better nick than the roads in England.’ 

Last week was the 80th anniversary of D-Day here in Normandy and it was heartwarming to see all of the American flags, the signs of the celebrations held here and the regard for the US servicemen even 80 years later.  

We were here a few years ago with Mom and Dad and visited the beaches so Dad could see where Uncle Karol had landed.  We stayed in a French farmhouse and visited Utah and Omaha beaches, along w/ partaking of some lovely French food and wine!

Stayed tonight in Carentan, a good sized village / small town in Normandy.  The Hotel le Vauban was right in the centre and an easy walk from the port.  We had dinner at Contoir des Marais which was waterfront at the marina, recommended by the hotel.  Note to self, always check out the menu before sitting down and ordering wine.  We found things that we liked though and the place was very cozy - the wine was very good! 

https://restaurant-carentan-lecontoir.com/

Carentan church

52 miles in total today, 1925 feet climbed.  Mainly (very good) gravel tracks.

 

Le Manche, France

Today begins the Le Manche Tour.  A shorter one this time, only 200 miles over four days - from Cherbourg to Saint Malo.  A bit of Normandy and a bit of Brittany.  Day 1 is 50 miles, day 2 is 42 miles, day 3 is 59 miles (w/ some hills) and day 4 is 50 mile w/ a current forecast for rain.  We’re staying in Carentan, Tessy-sur-Vire, Ducey and the last night in Saint Malo.  Didn’t have as much time to train for this after our little fall in Florida, so should be interesting!

5+ hours down to Portsmouth

This is a good chunk of a ride called the Petit Tour de Manche.  The full Tour de Manche covers coastal Dorset and Devon in the U.K. and Brittany / Normandy in France from Cherbourg to Roscoff in France.  It also can include Jersey and Guernsey Islands.  We’ve opted to start in Cherbourg and finish in Saint Malo because we want to stay in the Saint Malo walled city on our last night.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Malo

https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/where-to-go/the-tour-de-manche-bike-route.html

We drove from Blackburn to Portsmouth, roof bars woo-woo’ing all the way.  Sounded like the wind in the rigging on the boat.  Had to keep the speed down to 60mph due to the tandem being on top (which added to the woo-woo’ing) so it took a bit longer than it normally would.  We arrived 5 hours early - oops!

The ferry from Portsmouth is a Brittany Ferry, we quite like those - very French.  Departure time is 10:30pm so no 3-course meal on the way out, but since it’s a day sail we’re planning on one on the way back!

Ended up waiting for a couple hours on the dock before we could get on the ferry, a tad chilly out there, but eventually we got on.  Very interesting entering the boat, can only pedal so far and then you have to get off and walk.  They have a section for cycles, you lean them against the wall and then the crew tie them down.  Bearing all the panniers, we clackity-clacked in our cycling shoes up eight flights of stairs to get from the car deck to our cabin.  As the ferry left at 10pm, we had a boat picnic w/ our bbq chicken and a bottle of wine we’d picked up in Portsmouth - nice way to end the day watching as we headed out of the port and into the channel!

Patiently waiting in the port

And waiting

Bunk beds!

A restorative!

Heading out of the port to France!